David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I refer to the final sentence of one of the conclusions reached by the Comptroller and Auditor General on page 30 of his report.

It states: "A substantial part of the fall in funding levels has occurred as a result of the transfer of responsibilities from local authorities to other agencies and the reduction in capital expenditure by local authorities." There is an awful lot in that but it sums up many of our frustrations and issues.

I have one or two questions. With regard to our reporting on this — it will obviously form part of our periodic report — the Comptroller and Auditor General was examining the various funding streams and making the point that it can be very difficult to follow the money in terms of how local government is funded. We have certainly seen that today; that is for sure.

Second, we need to make sure we are getting value for money and that there is proper accountability and transparency. Part of the problem is that there is a transfer of responsibilities from local authorities to other agencies. One of those is Irish Water, which is the big one. Who is now responsible for Irish Water? Who is the Accounting Officer?